Remembering and honoring a brother’s legacy – News Center

Friday, Oct 18, 2024
• Cristal Gonzalez :
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For Lisalee Egbert, assistant professor within the Division of Trendy Languages, the panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on show at UTA Libraries is greater than only a piece of historical past—it’s a connection to her brother Kyle Lee, who died from the illness greater than 30 years in the past.

Lee’s aim was to grow to be a author, and he was all the time filling notebooks together with his tales. He was taking lessons at Tarrant County School to pursue his dream, however his plans have been placed on maintain when he was compelled to depart residence.

Egbert remembers coming residence sooner or later and discovering her brother’s room utterly emptied. She requested her mother and father the place he had gone, they usually responded, “he went to go discover himself.”

On the time, Egbert didn’t perceive that her mother and father meant Lee had come out of the closet and he was compelled to depart. Fortunately, with the assistance of her different siblings she was capable of reconnect with him and corresponded by way of letters.

Because the years handed, the connection at residence softened when the information got here Lee had been recognized with AIDS. He underwent remedy and testing to assist prolong his life, however handed away on the age of 35.

Egbert remembers her brother as somebody who might join with anybody and make them really feel particular. She named her son in his reminiscence.

“Kyle was very personable, and he might navigate all varieties of social setting and environments,” she mentioned. “He was a gorgeous particular person.”

Earlier than Lee handed, he requested his relations to create a bit of the quilt so that individuals would know his story. He wished individuals to know that he died from AIDS.

Two sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt are in honor of Lee—one made by his household and the opposite by his pals. The part made by household options images and private gadgets with a powerful connection to Lee.

Egbert desires individuals to know as they have a look at the quilt panel that its eight sections symbolize eight people.

“These people had hopes, desires and ambitions and had individuals who cared and cherished for them and miss them at the moment,” she mentioned.

A piece of AIDS Memorial Quilt is on show on the sixth flooring of the UTA Central Library. The exhibit is open to the general public from Oct. 14-18 from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For extra data, please go to the Nationwide AIDS Memorial web site.

Images from previous UTA displays of the AIDS Memorial Quilt could be discovered on the UTA Libraries institutional repository and archival hub, MavMatrix. Details about Particular Collections could be discovered via the UTA Libraries web site.

– Written by Andrew Branca, UTA Libraries